A Heart Broken, A Heart Healed
by Ozuma and Blank's Lil' Kitten
Summary: Max finds Ozuma in an alley, nearly dead, but he manages to save him. Things get very complicated from there. Yes, it's MaxOzuma, but has also OzumaKai and some others. Better summary inside.


Title: A Heart Broken, A Heart Healed  
Pairing(s): Ozuma/Kai (unrequited), Max/Ozuma (I DID say if no one will write for them, then I will!), implications of Kai/Takao (I wasn't planning on putting TyKa in here, but it happened) and mentions of Rei/Mao (too cute to resist)  
Warnings: Heavy Angst, a tiny bit of Cutting, Sap and Shounen-ai (that means boy-love, so please, if that doesn't make you comfortable, don't read and flame me, okay? Being civil is not too much to ask for)

Remember the poem I wrote entitled "Because I Love You"? Well, this is the sequel that I promised.  
I know it's been a long time since I said I'd write a sequel, but it's no lie that I'm a very slow writer.  
Now, you don't need to read the poem to understand this story, but it's better if you do. At least, some things will make better sense after having read the poem.

So, why did I choose Max for Ozuma?  
Two answers to that; One, it's become one of my favorite couples and two, I didn't get any real votes (1 wanted Rei and 1 wanted Takao, so I couldn't work from there, could I?) and I'd already decided that if that were to happen, I'd stick with the default, which was super-cute Max.

Disclaimer: I don't and never will I own this fantastic series known as BeyBlade 2002! If I did, all the screen-time would be focused on Ozuma and Max! If you're planning on suing, please do so! You'll get my obnoxious baby brother if you do, so I win. LOL

Brief Summary:  
Ozuma confessed his love to one Kai Hiwatari, sadly, he was brutally rejected, which left him very alone and hurt, so he tries to end his life. Thankfully, one Max Mizuhara finds him before he could die and decides to take care of him.  
Okay? Enjoy now!

P.S. G-Revolution never happened in this, 'kay?  
You could say this happened some time after Takao won the last tournament in V-Force, if you will.

Young Max wasn't sure what had woken him that night. It could have been the wind, which was blowing furiously against his tightly-closed window.  
The blonde took a look at his clock. It was only one in the morning.  
Stifling a large yawn behind one ivory hand, he settled his head comfortably back down on his soft pillow.  
However, he just kept on tossing and turning.  
After fifteen minutes, he gave up on trying to get back to sleep.  
Grabbing a pair of jeans and a sweater, he got out of his pajamas and changed. He ran a hand through his soft, golden locks.  
After having put on a pair of sneakers and a warm jacket, he got out of his room, and tiptoed as best as he could, so as not to disturb Mr. Mizuhara, out of the house.

'Oh! It sure is cold out!' thought the small blonde.  
Quickly stuffing his pale hands in his pockets, he began to walk.  
He really had no idea where he was going to go.  
Normally, when he wasn't at home, his agenda consisted of hanging out with his best buddy Takao, but he doubted that right now said bluenette would appreciate a visit from him or anyone else, not when he had his beauty sleep to catch up on!  
He decided he'd just take a small walk to the beach, which was not at all far from his house and then head back home and try to get some more sleep, even though he was feeling wide awake now.

'Mm! I sure could use some hot cocoa right about now,' Max thought, licking his cold lips.  
Suddenly, he had a feeling that something was not right. He looked up at the night sky; even though it was freezing cold, there wasn't a single cloud in the sky, and the stars were sparkling beautifully that night.  
For no reason, the blonde boy picked up his pace.  
He was near an alley now...  
"Huh?" Max muttered out loud. Something in his gut was telling him to check out the creepy place, and cautiously, he did so.  
When his baby blue eyes adjusted better to the very dark alley, he saw something that made his heart race with fear.  
His pale, freckled face got even whiter.  
His already wide eyes got larger still.  
There, lying in a sitting-position on the dirty ground, a small yet lethal pen-knife on his lap, was his former enemy...

"Oh no! Ozuma!" Max heard himself choke out a cry.  
He ran to the fallen teen's side, and finally noticed that both his wrists were cut open, bleeding.  
His once bronze skin was now deathly white.  
The boy's eyes were shut tight, and he was barely breathing.

Feeling a whimper escape his throat, Max tentatively pressed two fingers very gently against Ozuma's neck.  
He nearly cried in relief when he felt a pulse, it was very weak, barely there even, but the important thing was that the other boy was still alive.  
As gently as he could, he removed the smaller boy's gloves off his hands with his own trembling ones.  
Then he quickly ripped off a piece of his sweater. Splitting that piece in two, he wrapped them as well as he could around both the injured wrists.  
"Don't die on me, please! Just hang in there Ozuma!" Max choked out, suddenly realizing that he'd been shedding tears this whole time.  
As soon as the words had escaped his mouth, he heard a tiny, pained groan coming from the other boy.  
Poor Max had never been more scared in his life than he was now, now that he was seeing this once extremely head-strong boy die right before his eyes.  
Once he'd finished tying the make-shift bandages round the boy's bloody wrists, he gently picked him up in his arms, hearing the gore-covered knife fall almost softly to the ground.  
Max may have been a wee bit vertically-challenged, but of course that didn't mean that he was weak. On the contrary, he was quite strong for his age and size.

As fast as his feet could carry him, Max made it home okay.  
Not bothering at all to be quiet this time, he rushed to his room and very gently placed the other boy on his bed.  
"I'll be right back," Max whispered a promise, and ran to get the first-aid kit from the kitchen.  
He knew what he needed to do to make sure Ozuma would not die. His mother, Judy, taught him many first-aid skills when he was still just a child, and those lessons were finally going to pay off.  
Dashing back to his room, he slammed and locked the door behind him. By some miracle or other, his father had not heard the commotion going on in his house, and slept on like a log.  
Opening the case, willing his fingers to stop trembling so, he got out a roll of bandages, a small bottle of anti-septic and a pair of scissors.  
After having removed the crude yet efficient bandages from Ozuma's wrists, he set to work. There was no way he was going to let him die, not like this.  
'No way!'

Thirty minutes later, he was finally finished.  
The wounds had been cleaned, treated and bandaged.  
Ozuma's color was thankfully returning back to him, no longer looking so ghostly white as when Max had found him in the alley.  
He was breathing normally now, his chest rising and falling in a gentle rhythm.  
The blonde was so happy that he was able to save Ozuma's life that he was highly tempted to throw his arms around the older boy in a friendly embrace. But he wisely decided against it and let the boy rest.  
He chanced a look at the clock and saw that it was already 3:30AM.  
Taking off his torn sweater and jeans, he put his crumpled pajamas back on and went back in the kitchen.  
Putting some water in a kettle, he set it on the stove and put some cocoa powder in a mug.  
Some minutes later, he was sipping his hot cocoa, savoring the sweet chocolate flavor as it flowed down his throat, warming up his entire body like a cozy blanket.

"Nn..."  
"..."  
'Where am I? What place is this?'  
Ozuma turned his head first one side, then the other, inspecting his surroundings almost cautiously.  
He was in a small, somewhat messy bedroom.  
Across the bed he was now sitting upon, he saw a desk littered with papers, books, hundreds of BeyBlade pieces and a single framed photograph.

Weakly sliding off the bed, he walked to the desk and picked up the frame almost gently in his trembling hands.  
Behind the glass was a photo of a smiling blonde woman with large blue eyes, an average-height, very friendly looking man and between them was a short, smiling blonde boy. Both his parents' arms were wrapped lovingly around the small boy, who in turn looked as if he'd been waving his arms about happily.  
'Max?'  
Gently placing the photograph back where he found it, he wrapped his arms around himself.  
'Why am I still alive? Why?'  
He went and sat back on the bed, at last noticing that his wrists were now bandaged.  
Did Max really save him? How did he find him? Why?

His head shot up when he heard the doorknob turning.  
Hearing it creak as the wooden door was opened, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms even tighter around his cold body.  
"Ozuma! You're awake!" he heard the joyful cry.  
He nearly gasped when he felt the energetic boy crush him in a hug from behind.  
Keeping his body still, he relaxed somewhat when Max had finally released his hold on him.  
The blonde was beyond happy, it was as if he'd just been given wings and could soar through the sky with the joy he was feeling.  
Shifting a bit, he now sat cross-legged next to the shorter boy.  
"You really scared me back there, you know? I thought you were dead," whispered Max softly, his baby blue eyes shimmering.  
Ozuma looked away, unable to speak.  
He'd wanted to die so badly. Now that Kai had made it perfectly clear to him that he did not love him, didn't even like him, he'd lost his will to live.  
He felt unbearably alone, afraid, and all he wanted was death to claim him in its eternal embrace.  
"Why'd you do such a foolish thing?" Max was suddenly demanding.  
Ozuma was still unable to speak. He was suddenly too afraid to utter a single word.  
The blonde raised one hand, and gently cupping the other's cheek, he forced Ozuma to face him.  
Soft baby blue locked with beautiful emerald green.  
"Why? Think of how your friends would have missed you. My friends would miss you, and I sure would miss you," Max continued.  
'Kai would not miss me,' Ozuma thought sadly. 'Would you really miss me, Max?'  
He was confused, Max never seemed to show any interest in him whatsoever, friendly or otherwise. He thought that the blonde completely adored his feisty team-mate, Mariam.  
But then again, Max was so kind, sweet and gentle. He was nice to pretty much everyone he came across.  
Max, noting that Ozuma was not going to answer him anytime soon, released the other boy's cheek and felt his heart sink when he saw his head fall slowly to his chest.  
'Ozuma, what happened to you?'

It was six in the morning now.  
Max could hear some noises down in the kitchen, and figured his father was making breakfast.  
Mr. Mizuhara was not the best of cooks, but thankfully, he knew how to make Max's favorite breakfast, chocolate-chip pancakes, just fine, which was what he was cooking at this very moment.  
Sniffing the delicious aroma that came through his room, his stomach let out a rather loud growl of hunger.  
Feeling his face turn extremely red, he expected Ozuma to laugh out loud at him or something of the sort. Instead, said boy was still staring unhappily at the floor, his shoulders shaking very slightly.  
Placing an ivory hand on the older boy's shoulder, he asked, "Are you hungry? I know I am! Come on, my dad's making my favorite!"  
Looking at the other boy's small, pale hand on his shoulder, he was still afraid to speak out, so instead, he gave a tiny, almost shy nod.  
Helping him on his feet, Max placed both hands on Ozuma's shoulder blades and gently pushed him onwards to the kitchen.

By the time they got there, both boys were greeted with a mountain of pancakes on the table, along with milk and orange juice.  
"'Morning Maxie, my boy. I got more pancakes coming!" Mr. Mizuhara said in his friendly voice.  
"Hey Dad. I had a friend over for the night, is that okay?" Max asked, taking a chair.  
Mr. Mizuhara turned slightly, and saw a boy a bit shorter than his son, with dark gray hair and a red streak on his bangs. He was looking at the floor, not wanting to face anyone.  
'Seems shy,' the man thought.  
Out loud he said, "Of course! There's more than enough!"  
Ozuma was still standing where he was, just a few inches away from Max.  
"Have a seat my boy, you can eat as much as you like," Max's father said kindly.  
When the man had turned his attention back to his cooking, Max gently took the boy's hand and beckoned him to sit down.  
Finally, Ozuma did so and took a seat across the blonde.

Placing a plate and glass in front of each boy, the friendly man said, "Dig in, boys!"  
"Don't mind if I do!" Max said, for once happy that Takao had not spent the night over, as he often did. If he had, the poor blonde would not have been able to eat a single pancake, what with the bluenette's ravenous appetite and all.  
He put six pancakes on his plate, and covered them in as much chocolate syrup as was humanly possible. Father and son ate and drank, however Ozuma just stared at his empty plate, having no appetite whatsoever.  
"What's up, kid? Doncha like my cooking?" asked Mr. Mizuhara.  
"..."  
"You need to eat something my boy! You really are skinny!"  
"..."  
"Ozuma? Aren't you hungry?" Max asked in his gentle voice.  
Without looking up, he shook his head softly.  
"That's too bad, kiddo! You have no idea what you're missin'," Max's father said, having cleaned out his plate, and helping himself to some more food.  
"Drink something at least," Max insisted, pouring some orange juice in the other boy's glass.  
'Why are they being so nice to me? I don't deserve their hospitality. I don't...' was all that was running through Ozuma's mind.

"Ah! That hit the spot!" Mr. Mizuhara shouted, patting his full stomach.  
"You said it!" Max agreed now that his hunger was satisfied.  
His father got off his chair and proceeded out of the kitchen.  
"Where are you going?" the blonde asked, re-filling his glass with some milk.  
"To work, son. The hobby shop won't run itself, you know? Oh, and do the dishes will ya?" With that, he was gone.  
"Aw man! I hate doing the dishes!" Max grumbled.  
Taking a look at Ozuma, he saw that the boy had not eaten a single bite, and his glass was still full with the juice that Max had poured for him.  
'Why is he being so shy? I never pegged him as the shy-type.'  
With a soft sigh, he cleared the table, then washed the dishes as fast as he was able.  
Smiling in relief when he was finished, he sat back on his chair.

Ozuma's head was still bowed down, his eyes nearly closed. He didn't know what he was going to do. He was embarrassed at the idea of going back to his team in his current condition, but he didn't want to be a burden on Max either.  
Said boy got him out of his distressed thoughts for a while. "After I shower, you can have one also. Then I'm going over to Takao's place. Do you want to come along?"  
"..."  
Go with Max? What if Kai was there also? He knew that he could never face the boy he loved ever again. It just hurt too much.  
But he didn't want to face his friends either, not yet.  
Somehow, he doubted Max would allow him to stay here by himself. The blonde wasn't stupid after all. If Ozuma had tried to take his own life before, what was stopping him from giving it another shot?  
What should he do?

Max was very patient with him, and let him decide at his own pace. He knew he had to be very gentle with him; the last thing he wanted was to scare the other boy away. It wasn't a problem at all for him. Max was a gentle kid by nature.  
He gave him a smile when Ozuma finally nodded his head once, however, inside he frowned.  
The smaller boy hadn't said a single word since he regained consciousness, and even though he wasn't the most talkative person in the world, he still always spoke what was on his mind.  
'I wish he'd say something. Anything!'  
"Okay, I'll shower first. Just wait in my room for me, okay?"

After he made sure Ozuma was okay in his room, which he'd locked, just to be on the safe side, Max fetched a change of clothes, a fresh towel and went inside the bathroom.  
First things first, he took away all the razors in the room, scissors, nail-clippers, anything that seemed harmless but could still cause terrible damage if Ozuma saw them.  
Making sure the medicine-cabinet was locked, he hid the stuff in every available pocket of his clothes.  
Nodding his head in satisfaction, he took off his pajamas from his pale body, and stepped inside the shower.

TBC

Holy crud!  
I can't believe I typed this whole thing off the top of my head. Boy, my fingers are tired!  
I must admit this was very fun to write. Writing for Max and Ozuma is so much fun! (it helps that they're my favorites, doesn't it?)  
I hope that this was to your liking people, please review and tell me!

Don't worry, I'll be updating _My Friend, My Enemy_ as soon as I can, I have NOT abandoned it, and I'll try to update this one as soon as I have the time.

'Kay, that's all!  
Now, please review, and don't flame! You don't want to make Max and Ozuma unhappy, do you?


End file.
